Chapter 9 - The Post Mortem

Following the interview, Florence took a break to visit her dad, and Jack accompanied Nikki back to the Biology classroom where the post-mortem was to take place. A team of army soldiers had been enlisted to carry the body there from the art classroom, making sure the relevant corridors were cleared. It took a little bit longer than expected for the body to arrive but one of the soldiers explained;

'Sorry it took us so long, but we had some difficulty getting into the classroom where the body was held. Someone had put gum in the lock, so it took us some time to clear it out in order to get the key in. Thankfully there was some lubricant in the cleaners' cupboard'. The soldiers placed the body on the largest of the desks on which a sheet had been laid, then reverently left the room.

'Gum in the lock?' exclaimed Jack. 'Who would do that?'

'Someone who doesn't want the post-mortem to take place?' suggested Nikki.

'But who? The murder? It can't have been Adam Williams since he is locked up in the Head Teacher's office!'

'Could he have an accomplice?'

'Maybe. He is here with his partner and a group of friends. It could have been one of them if they are involved'

'Well, we will see if this examination brings up any new evidence whoever it was didn't want us to find.

Nikki got out her mobile phone and opened the Voice Memos app. Thankfully she had just enough battery to get the job done. She normally used a separate recording device which gave a clearer sound, but this would have to do in the circumstances. Jack took the comfortable chair from behind the teacher's desk and stationed himself beside the door.

'I'll keep a look out for any intruders' he informed Nikki. 'We will have to step up security around the body'

'Thank you, but I think I might need you to assist me one or two more times. Normally I would have another pathologist or lab assistants present and detectives would be mere observers but unfortunately there is nobody else here'

'OK I understand. I will arrange for my officers to be fetched and they can keep watch outside the door. The search for the murder weapon has been called off since we found what we were looking for so they will be free now' Jack opened the door and called to one of the soldiers who was still nearby to have JP and Ruby fetched. He then took a quick look out into the corridor once it was clear but satisfied there was nobody around, he closed the door and focused on what Nikki was doing. She pressed record on the app to begin a memo.

'Post-mortem examination of Gavin William Harper, a twenty-nine year old Caucasian male. The victim's jacket and t'shirt are drenched in blood around the left upper torso but only a small smear appears at the bottom of the jacket and upper thigh of his jeans, and there is only a single cut in the clothing, also to the left of the victim's chest, which suggests only a single wound or small group of wounds was inflicted, concentrated in one area' Nikki looked up at Jack. 'Do you think you could help me to undress the victim?'

'S-sure'

When the body was prepared, Nikki continued 'Victim has an approximately five centimetre stab wound to the upper torso close to the heart. There are also bruises under his armpits and scratches and grazes on both of his knees, which could indicate he might have been dragged. Can you help me to turn him over for a minute?' She turned to Jack and he took another quick look through the glass in the door before walking over to her side and helping to turn Gavin onto this back.

'There is no exit wound. A kitchen knife has been found in a rucksack belonging to the chief suspect, Mr Adam Williams. Can we turn the victim back over?' Once that was done, Nikki carefully removed the carving knife from the towel it was found wrapped in. She took it and, after taking a sample of the blood that was on it with a cotton bud and inserting the bud into a test tube, she inserted the blade precisely into the hole in Gavin's chest 'Recovered knife fits into the wound and it is covered in blood up to the point at which the incision ends. I can therefore reasonably conclude that this knife found in Mr Williams' possession is in fact the murder weapon'

'Excellent!' said Jack. 'Just one moment' He went outside the door to speak to JP and Ruby who had appeared and gave them instructions to station themselves outside the room while the post-mortem continued. Finally able to fully focus, Jack re-entered the room.

'So, the knife was plunged into the victim's chest at a roughly fifty-degree angle to the right horizontally and an upward sixty-degree angle vertically. He appears to have been stabbed from the front by a person a few inches shorter than he is'

'Hmm he seems to be quite tall' sighed Jack.

'Yes, he is. Anyway, the body temperature appears to have started to fall' continued Nikki. 'Taking into consideration the temperature in the store cupboard, which is much less that in the main classroom where heat would normally get through the window, the lack of a blanket to cover the body, the windows being closed due to the storm and the age and build of the victim, as well as the progress of rigor mortis, I would estimate that he has been dead for twelve to eighteen hours, putting the time of death between eight pm last night and two am this morning. It is not possible to be more specific due to the number of factors that could affect both the speed of the cooling of the body and the onset of rigor mortis'

'Well, at least the time we believe the victim was killed, between eleven fifteen and eleven thirty last night, falls within that timescale'

'Now it is time to cut open the victim's chest' Nikki continued. 'Would you mind holding his shoulders? It will be harder to keep him still and make the right cut on this type of table' Jack obliged and Nikki picked up the scalpel to make the big cut.

Meanwhile, out in the corridor, Ruby proudly positioned herself as a sentry standing to the right of the door of the classroom. J P feebly sat down in the corridor at the other side, looking down at the ground.

'Hey, what's up?' asked Ruby. 'Are you feeling OK?'

'Yeah, I'm fine. Just very tired' JP lied.

'Oh come on, we're all tired! Not many police officers on these islands get the opportunity to keep watch over a post-mortem! Isn't it exciting?!' Ruby took a look through the glass but before she was able to see what was happening she caught Jack's eye and he indicated to her to move away from the glass and do her job. JP began to look even more uncomfortable and as his partner turned back to face him he buried his head in his hands to ward off a spell of faintness. 'You're squeamish about this, aren't you!'

'N-no, not at all!' JP forced himself to recover and tried to fake confidence as Ruby had done earlier.

'Yes you are!' Ruby teased and he felt very embarrassed.

'OK maybe a bit but please don't tell anyone!'

'It's OK, honestly, just don't think about what is going on in there!'

'I'll try, but I'll be relieved when this assignment is over' Suddenly there was a small tremor and Ruby immediately dropped to the floor beside JP.

'Don't worry, I've got you and we're safe in here!' it was suddenly JP's turn to counsel Ruby.

'I have to admit I'll be relieved when this whole storm situation is over' she admitted.

'So you really are afraid of storms then?'

'Maybe a bit, but please don't tell anyone!'

'Your secret's safe with me!'

Back in the classroom, Nikki finished sawing one of Gavin's ribs to get a better look at the severed organs underneath.

'The blade was inserted into the upper torso between the fourth and fifth ribs, severing the left ventricle. She looked up at Jack. 'The wound was made in just the right place to reach the heart. Whoever did this would appear to have some knowledge of anatomy'

'That's interesting' exclaimed Jack. 'Too bad we can't look into Adam Williams' background or those of his friends to see if any of them have a background in anything medical'

'Too bad indeed. Although the cause of death seems obvious I'll have to look at the other organs just to make sure there was no contribution by natural causes'

'Of course'

JP was still feeling a little unwell. Ruby attempted once again to look inside the classroom to see what was happening but was caught by Jack again.

'What is your fascination with the post-mortem process, Ruby? Do you think it is some kind of real-life CSI show or something?'

'Heavens no! It's nothing like that in real life!'

'How do you know? Have you ever been to one?'

'No, but I read a biography of a forensic pathologist a year or so ago. I found it very exciting and I've wanted to learn more ever since'

'So why didn't you study forensics?'

'I would have done if I could afford to take another degree. At least in the police I will surely come into contact with some of it from time to time? Such as now? If only I was allowed in to watch' she sighed, frowning at the glass in the door.

'Well, I'm glad I don't have to be in there!'

'I guess not everyone can handle it!'

'Now, now! I just don't understand how you can find a body being cut up and organs taken out anything but repulsive! I don't think I would have become a police officer if we had to attend post-mortems on the island!'

'Well, as the expert whose story I read was always saying to the police officers who observed him, it is merely a way for the dead to speak to us and tell us exactly what happened to them. In a lot of cases we wouldn't be able to find the right killer and bring them to justice otherwise'

'I know, but I hate to think of that poor guy being buried with all his body parts hanging out'

'You didn't think they would leave him like that, did you? No! They stitch them back together, silly!' she putted him on the arm.

'I suppose it is not as bad as I thought'

'No, it isn't. The author I read helps officers who are uncomfortable with being present at a post-mortem by talking them through the process and helping them understand what he is doing and why. It often helps them cope'

'And that's what you've been doing for me!'

'Of course, what are partners for?' They high fived each other, JP feeling a bit better.

Having thoroughly examined Gavin's lungs, liver, stomach, pancreas and brain, Nikki placed his kidneys on the laboratory scales.

'Just the weight they should be. It looks like there were no natural causes involved' she concluded. 'Cause of death was deprivation of oxygen to the heart due to severing of the left ventricle'

'Brilliant! So what happens now?' Jack asked.

'It is time to put all the organs back where they belong and stitch this man up in case his fiancee or any family members who may decide to come over here wish to see the body'

'I see. What will you use for that?'

'Well luckily I brought a needle and thread with me as I didn't have time to fix some warped stitching in one of my sundresses before I left England'

'That was lucky indeed as I don't think the medical room here would have the amount of surgical stitching you would need'

'No indeed' she got to work.

'It's a pity there isn't a DNA analyser here to help us with the investigation' Jack sighed as she finished the job.

'It would be useful to have the use of one, yes, but I can use this to analyse the blood sample I took earlier' Nikki pointed to one of the microscopes on the workbench. 'From my knowledge I think this one has the highest resolution'

'You know better than me!' Jack cleared some space around the microscope for Nikki to bring over everything she needed. 'Shall I look for a petri dish, or something equally suitable for you?'

'You anticipate me well!' she smiled, impressed as Jack started looking in cupboards again. Five minutes later Nikki was transferring a sample of blood from the swab onto a small glass dish and turning on the microscope, which thankfully worked due to the school's generator. Jack watched Nikki as she looked through the microscope, slowly moving the stage from right to left and back again.

'What can you see?' he asked with interest.

'Hundreds of blood cells'

'Really? What do they look like?'

'Have a look for yourself' Nikki stood up and invited Jack to have a look. It took him a minute to look in the right way and see the blood cells for himself.

'Goodness! This is what our blood looks like?!'

'Close up, yes'

'How many cells do we have?'

'One drop of blood contains five million red blood cells'

'Really?'

'Yes. And one teaspoon of blood would be about one hundred and twenty drops'

'Good heavens! So, there are probably around six hundred million cells in this dish!'

'I…believe that is about correct!'

'So how do you find DNA in the blood sample?'

'Now that's where the high resolution is important. The DNA strands appear within the cells so we need to zoom in on one of these cells…if you'll allow me'

'Sure' Jack stood up again and let Nikki zoom in and focus the microscope on a single blood cell.

'Now look at that' she let him sit down and look again.

'Wow! That's…remarkable!' Jack saw in the flesh what he had previously only seen a diagram of. 'Your job is so fascinating!'

'It certainly is, although it can also be stressful at times too. I used to imagine doing your job and catching the bad guys'

'It's what I do best, but this job is stressful too, believe me!'

'Well, I think I have found a good pattern here. I just need to photograph it before having a look at a sample of the victim's blood'

Fifteen minutes later Nikki had prepared the sample and was once again looking through the microscope. As she zoomed in on a cell she looked up and down at the picture she had taken of the blood DNA several times before concluding;

'We have a match. The blood on the knife appears to be that of Gavin Harper so I can conclude with certainty that this knife is the murder weapon'

'Great. Can you tell me anything about the killer?'

'Hopefully. I will need to swab the knife handle and look for DNA on that after checking for finger prints'

Oh yes, we always carry finger print powder in our police packs. I'll get you some' Jack looked out the things she would need and before long Nikki had identified two fingerprints on the knife.

'Now to look at the prints we took from Mr Williams'

When the prints were viewed under the microscope Nikki looked between them and the prints from the knife even more times than with the blood samples'

'I don't think we have a match here' she informed Jack. 'We are looking at a completely different type of print from either of the prints that were found on the knife'

'So, you are saying that Adam Williams couldn't have used this knife?'

'Not unless he was wearing gloves and was careful not to get any prints or DNA on it'

'Not the result I was hoping for, but at least if he did wear gloves he wouldn't have been able to get them out of the school building so a search though all means of disposal should allow us to find them. I will ask J P and Ruby if they came across anything during their search for the weapon'

'Thank you for being so…accepting of the results'

'What do you mean?

'It's just…I've worked with so many detectives who are obsessed with making an arrest as quickly as possible in order to impress their superiors and to make themselves look good and will go to any length to do so even if it means twisting or ignoring vital forensic evidence!'

'Really? There are so many detectives like that now? I did know a few that would have behaved like that, but the real detectives are the ones who work with the evidence to find the real killers and bring real justice'

'Well it is a pleasure to be working with one of the real ones' she smiled as they cleaned up the lab.